It’s a thought I’ve had as I consider local job action by public high school teachers and the U.S. Presidential election.

First, the teachers. We’ve been waiting for some kind of response since late August, when Dalton McGuinty, in hindsight, made the move that eventually led to him walking away as Premier. It was legislation taking away collective bargaining, and imposing a contract on teachers in the public school system.

I didn’t like the premise of that. You can be pro or anti-union, but I think decency calls for you —especially in a position of power — to respect an agreement that is in place. That’s simply the right thing to do, so I understand the teachers’ frustration.

But that’s the rock. The legislation is already in place. Over here is the hard place of the parents and the students, and the teachers are smack in the middle.

The local president of the high school teachers federation has announced educators will take action. Some of those moves include missing staff meetings, perhaps not administering standardized testing and not communicating with parents outside of the regular school day. It seems extra-curricular activities will stay in place for now.

There’s a difficult balance there. The teachers and its federation have to do something otherwise the protests and such are a waste of time and air. But they also want to avoid penalizing the students. That is certainly not the way to garner support.

Some people will be annoyed no matter what the teachers do, but you have to go back to the words of Voltaire: I disagree with what you say, but will defend your right to say it.

And that, I think, leads into the quandary facing our neighbours in the U.S. As each year of elections goes by I am more and more amazed at the extremism of American politics. The middle ground seems to be quite barren. I hope we are not going in the same direction, although that certainly has been the case in recent years.

The U.S. is like one of those great big ships. It takes an awful lot to move it, let alone turn it around. So whether the winner is Barack Obama or Mitt Romney most of what it does will stay the same. Perhaps the tone or the feel of how it’s done will shift, but for the most part it will lumber.

But looking at the U.S. and what has befallen it over the years seems to have overtures in world history. In the space of centuries great powers have risen and fallen. The Romans, the British and the French have all, at one time, towered over other nations before eventually falling back.

The U.S. has been at the top for a long time, but is it possible to maintain that position? And if not, what are the ramifications for the rest of the world?

Some of you may well say, “Who cares what happens in the United States?” Consider those potential changes and then tell me it’s not important.

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Brian Bourke, a member of the 105.3 KOOL FM morning crew, can be reached by e-mail at bbourke@koolfm.com